Dreaming of Kataang
by Team-megan
Summary: Katara has a nightmare and talks with Aang about some important things. I suck at summaries.


I knew I was dreaming. That little part of my subconscious assured me of that. Nevertheless, I was still in this dream. I was in the place I dreaded the most- the Fire Lord's throne room. Aang was there too, but he wasn't Aang at the moment. The Avatar, great and terrible, stood before me, standing over the body of the Fire Lord. I couldn't tell if the tyrant was dead or not. Part of me was ecstatic. Aang had finally done what we had set out to do and he had accessed the Avatar State again. The other part of me was wary, recognizing the apparent danger. Could he control himself? My dream self seemed to be confident, as I had been before, less afraid of the Avatar and more concerned for Aang. I saw myself walk up to him and take his hand, as I had done many times before. He didn't even look down at me; he just grabbed my wrist and threw me off him. My subconscious was sending alarm signals to me, desperately trying to pull me out of the dream. It failed in preventing me from seeing what happened next. The Avatar turned on me, taking a bending stance. He punched forward and I realized he was attacking me. I awoke before a fire blast hit me in the stomach.

I sat up, gasping for air. It was still night in the Western Air Temple; everyone was still asleep. I reached up and touched my face, feeling sweat and tears on my cheeks. I brushed them away and stood up. I wasn't going to be able to sleep until I thought about this more and reconciled with my fears. I glanced over at Aang, who was laying on Appa's leg, smiling in his sleep. I smiled slightly. He would never hurt me- even in the Avatar State.

But things were changing. I sighed and walked to the sanctuary I'd found while talking with Sokka about our plan. Thankfully, the night air was cool and refreshing. I crossed the stone floor and sat down, dangling my legs over the ledge. The crumbling walls and statues held vigil with me as I looked out towards the crescent moon. My thoughts were so blurred together I couldn't make any sense of them, so I focused on the vast, black expanse of the canyon that lay before me. It had been three days since the Invasion, since that failure, since Aang had kissed me. I sighed. That had been such a surprise to me. I never thought, okay scratch that, I _had_ thought about us kissing. Why do you think I suggested we kiss in that cave? I just didn't think he'd do it that soon, at that moment, on a submarine. Part of me wondered if he'd just done it because he was scared he'd never know what it felt like if he'd died that day. I pushed that pessimistic thought away. I rubbed my temples, trying to clear my head.

"Katara?"

I turned to find exactly who I'd been thinking of.

He stood before me, looking sleepy but concerned. "Hey, Aang." I said, barely above a whisper. He shuffled in his place before coming to sit beside me, deciding to dangle his legs over the cliff's edge also. "Why are you awake?" He asked after we sat in silence for a while, staring out at the scenery.

"I-I had a nightmare," I admitted, embarrassed. He raised an eyebrow, "Do you want to talk about it?"

I didn't look at him, talking with the one person my nightmare was about didn't seem like the best idea, especially seeing as to what he'd done in my nightmare. "I don't know if I can…" I finally admitted to him. He raised an eyebrow at me. I corrected myself, "I mean, I don't know if that's such a good idea…seeing as you were in it." He frowned. I didn't know what else to say. If I told him, he might try to use it as an excuse to run away again. If I didn't, he'd spend hours worrying about the fact I was having nightmares about him. So I decided I would have to.

"I dreamed you attacked me," I said quietly.

"I-I…attacked you?" He asked, incredulous.

I bit my lip, now I'd done it. We sat there in silence as processed the situation and I dreaded his reply. After an agonizingly long time of silence, he spoke again, quiet and shakily.

"Are you…are you scared of me, Katara?" He wouldn't look at me, afraid even to hear the answer or see my reaction. I looked at him and caught the tears glistening in his eyes, as he continued to stare at the ground, disheartened and ashamed.

"No," I reply. He looked up at me then, his eyes filled with anguish and I cursed myself inwardly for even telling him about my nightmare. He bit his lip and furrowed his brow, turning his head back towards the moon.

"Even when I'm training with Zuko? When I firebend?" he asked, quiet and scared like before. I sigh and take his hand. He looks at me. Confusion and a myriad of other emotions played across his features.

"Aang, I'm not scared of you and I know you would never hurt me intentionally. So you can quit bringing up what happened with Jeong Jeong, I forgave you a long time ago for that." I looked down at his hand intertwined with mine. "As for the Avatar State- you've never hurt me before and I don't think you ever will- even if you weren't in control."

He protested, "You don't know that- I could never guarantee-"

I cut him off, "Stop, you're my best friend. I would never be scared of you. Just listen to me…" He had again turned his face away from me. I reached up and gently turned his face back towards mine.

"You kissed me," I reminded him gently. His face flushed; as did mine. 'And I liked it."I whispered. He looked surprised, "You did?"

I laughed lightly, "I kissed you back didn't I?" He blushed and stammered, "Well, I guess… but-"

I didn't let him finish. I reached up and pulled him into me, kissing him. He tensed up, completely surprised. Those same butterflies I'd felt on the day of the Invasion filled my stomach. I enjoyed the feeling once again and felt him relax. I pulled away, smirking. His face was red.

"Uhh…" he was confused, naturally.

"There. Now you don't have to guess," I whispered. He smiled dreamily. I smiled back.

"Aang, I'm not scared of you because… I love you." I admitted quietly.

He stared at me in shock, "Y-you do?"

"Well…yeah, silly. I kissed you like a second ago, right?" He blushed.

He took my hand again, after we'd let go somewhere between kissing and talking. "I love you too, Katara," he admitted, blushing. "Thanks for beating me to the punch," He added lightly, laughing.

We stared at each other, trying to say everything that couldn't be said.

"Hey, what are you two doing up?" We turned to find Toph of all people standing in the doorway.

"Um…talking," I replied.

'Well go to bed and enough kissing. I can hear your heartbeats from 6 rooms away." She left us blushing as she stomped off to her sleeping bag. We stood up together. "Well…goodnight," I said quietly. I turned to go, but Aang grabbed my hand. Before I knew what was happening, he had wrapped his arms around my waist and was kissing me again, leaving me as breathless as the first time.

I smiled as he led me back to where we were camped.

For once, I was glad I wasn't dreaming.


End file.
